Warning over fly-tip menace

Highly dangerous The fridge freezer and rubbish bags left dumped on a main road near Preston

Suspected fly-tippers believed to be operating between the Fylde coast and Preston have been slammed for “the most irresponsible” dumping of rubbish ever seen by town hall enforcement chiefs.

A giant fridge freezer was abandoned along with plastic bottles and bags of rubbish on a main road outside Preston, and council chiefs say it could have caused a major accident.

It follows a similar incident over Easter and officers believe the two could be linked to a team operating between Preston and the Thornton and Cleveleys areas to make a profit.

The distinctive fridge freezer was dumped in Inglewhite Road in Goosnargh, after the previous tipping in Fulwood Row, Fulwood.

Officers found evidence at both sites linking the rubbish to the Fylde coast.

Gary Gibson, waste enforcement and monitoring officer at Preston Council, today warned people living here not to accept help from people who claim they can remove their rubbish.

He said: “The big fridge freezer had just been dumped in the road.

“It’s pitch black out there in the evening and it’s a fast, fast road. Somebody coming flying there would have never seen it.

“They would have hit it at a rate of knots – it would have either put them in a field where there’s a ditch, or taken the car out.

“We think it’s possibly a crew from Preston going over there (to Thornton/Cleveleys), doing work over there and bringing it back and dumping it.

“My fear is I’ve never seen that before where they just dump it in the middle of the road.

“That’s highly dangerous and it’s getting very, very irresponsible if they are going to start doing that sort of thing - somebody is going to get badly hurt.

“To do that kind of thing is totally irresponsible.

“It’s dumped in the middle of the road, it’s a joke, and I just feel as though somebody must know where it’s come from.”

He added that the fly-tipping was unlikely to have been done by someone living in Thornton or Cleveleys.

He said: “We think it’s someone from Preston driving out there doing jobs, getting as much work as they can, filling up the wagon as much as they can and then on the way home just dumping it anywhere in Preston.”

He advised people on the Fylde coast to be cautious adding: “If you’ve got waste that needs removing and somebody says they can do it, don’t accept it. Do it legally – trying to save money it doesn’t work.

“I’m just very very fearful if they are that irresponsible. I just hope it doesn’t happen again. But if they are quite happy to dump it in the road then they will do it again. They are making money, then they save money by dumping it in the road.”